Blah! Blah! Blah! ... All the talking during Mass

[Denise1957]

Participation is not the same as verbal responses! People who aren’t saying anything are still participating. The anti-EF forces have hijacked that word, so be careful how you use it!

You are right, Apollos. Thanks for the reminder and correction!

 

[StTommyMore]

The anti-EF forces have hijacked that word, so be careful how you use it!

Paranoid much? “Anti-EF forces”? Give me a break. I go to a university decried as “liberal” by a lot of traditionalists, and we have the High Mass one Sunday a month, and Low Mass on intervening Saturdays. It is also a well attended Mass. Of 2400 students on campus, i only have met 2 that refuse to go. I don’t see the “anti-EF forces” you are talking about, at least not on the parishioner level.

 

[mick321]

I call hogwash. I have been to beautiful, reverent, silent, OF Masses, and I have been to a TLM where some people wouldn’t shut up. It is not the form of the Mass that makes a difference, but the interior disposition of the congregants.

The Extraordinary Form is not for everyone. If your family and friends are more comfortable attending the Novus Ordo in your home parish, that’s great. In the future, you may wish to refrain from characterizing ANY Catholic Mass as hogwash. Things could quickly get out of hand. Then - in response - someone may say something that you will not like.

Happy Holidays

 

[nickybr38]

I call hogwash. I have been to beautiful, reverent, silent, OF Masses, and I have been to a TLM where some people wouldn’t shut up. It is not the form of the Mass that makes a difference, but the interior disposition of the congregants.

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

[stevusmagnus]

It is not the form of the Mass that makes a difference, but the interior disposition of the congregants.

And the TLM naturally leads to a more holy and recollected disposition than does the OF.

 

[ConstantineTG]

I call hogwash. I have been to beautiful, reverent, silent, OF Masses, and I have been to a TLM where some people wouldn’t shut up. It is not the form of the Mass that makes a difference, but the interior disposition of the congregants.

Amen. I always wonder why people think that the TLM is some miraculous form of Mass that would shush people up. An irreverent person is an irreverent person no matter where you put them.

 

[ConstantineTG]

And the TLM naturally leads to a more holy and recollected disposition than does the OF.

Not true. Those who seek the EF today are usually the devout, that is why they are more respectful. Bring the usual Sunday crowd from any given OF parish into an EF parish and you’ll have the usual chit-chat. Bring the same crowd in the EF parish into any OF parish and they are the only ones attending the Mass, and you will have your usual reverence. Reverence doesn’t come from the Mass, it comes from the people.

Tell me, are you compelled to chit-chat if you go to an OF Mass just because its an OF Mass?

 

[stevusmagnus]

Not true. Those who seek the EF today are usually the devout, that is why they are more respectful. Bring the usual Sunday crowd from any given OF parish into an EF parish and you’ll have the usual chit-chat. Bring the same crowd in the EF parish into any OF parish and they are the only ones attending the Mass, and you will have your usual reverence. Reverence doesn’t come from the Mass, it comes from the people.

Tell me, are you compelled to chit-chat if you go to an OF Mass just because its an OF Mass?

You ever wonder why the EF crowd is more devout? You think it happened by accident?

Reverence comes from the people as taught to them by the Mass. You believe as you pray. You assist at what appears to be a meal, you chit chat. You assist at what appears to be a priest offering sacrifice and you are reverent.

Indeed I’ve been to many an OF Mass that was so informal, noisy, and laid back, people could chat all they wanted. It is true you couldn’t hear the chit chat at some of these Masses. The rock music was too loud.

 

[At_Trent]

Not true. Those who seek the EF today are usually the devout, that is why they are more respectful. Bring the usual Sunday crowd from any given OF parish into an EF parish and you’ll have the usual chit-chat. Bring the same crowd in the EF parish into any OF parish and they are the only ones attending the Mass, and you will have your usual reverence. Reverence doesn’t come from the Mass, it comes from the people.

Tell me, are you compelled to chit-chat if you go to an OF Mass just because its an OF Mass?

Have you ever been to a TLM ?

 

[basinite]

Go find a church that celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass and you will never have to worry about this again.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Have you ever been to a TLM ?

Yes

 

[ConstantineTG]

You ever wonder why the EF crowd is more devout? You think it happened by accident?

Because more people go to the OF nowadays. I’m not old enough, but I’ve heard that the usual irreverence is in place when the TLM was the only Mass around.

Reverence comes from the people as taught to them by the Mass. You believe as you pray. You assist at what appears to be a meal, you chit chat. You assist at what appears to be a priest offering sacrifice and you are reverent.

Indeed I’ve been to many an OF Mass that was so informal, noisy, and laid back, people could chat all they wanted. It is true you couldn’t hear the chit chat at some of these Masses. The rock music was too loud.

I was not asking about them, I was asking about you. Reverence comes from the person. If your claim that the TLM shush people up, then you should become chatty when you go to an OF Mass. Me, I’m not chatty in an OF, EF or Divine Liturgy. Because reverence doesn’t come from the form of Liturgy, it comes from me.

 

[Apollos]

I don’t see the “anti-EF forces” you are talking about, at least not on the parishioner level.

They are undercover and disguise themselves to look like normal people.

 

[StTommyMore]

Go find a church that celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass and you will never have to worry about this again.

Actually, I have been to a TLM with people dressed inappropriately and not paying attention, so it is not the form, but the person.

 

[Romanova]

Because more people go to the OF nowadays. I’m not old enough, but I’ve heard that the usual irreverence is in place when the TLM was the only Mass around.

My grandmother-in-law recently was regaling me with some very interesting stories about her experiences with the TLM while she was in a Catholic boarding school in the 1930s in Europe. Let’s just say that the average teenage girl was no less irreverent in that Mass than they’d be today in an OF Mass.

When people must actively choose to attend an EF Mass, the population there is likely to be different than the larger population in attendance at the far more common OF Masses.

 

[ConstantineTG]

My grandmother-in-law recently was regaling me with some very interesting stories about her experiences with the TLM while she was in a Catholic boarding school in the 1930s in Europe. Let’s just say that the average teenage girl was no less irreverent in that Mass than they’d be today in an OF Mass.

When people must actively choose to attend an EF Mass, the population there is likely to be different than the larger population in attendance at the far more common OF Masses.

Right, that is why we get a whole lot of variety of people in the OF than in the EF. Availability and accessability. Plus given that the Mass is available in the vernacular, it takes a higher devotion to choose Latin over the vernacular.

I’ve only been to an EF Mass twice. But I will tell you with just those two times I’ve already seen things that you’d think you wouldn’t given how people here make the EF Mass to be. And it was a First Friday Mass, not a Sunday Mass. So less people and yet there were still examples.

 

[Cara_Serrano]

As someone who travels a lot, I see many different parishes, traditional and liberal. The few times I have been interrrupted at Mass by a chatty parishioner, I just say, “I really need to pray right now. Can we talk later?” I’ve never gotten a negative response to this approach.
I usually kneel and pray the Chaplet of Mercy before Mass, and yes, there are lots of conversations going on all around me. When it gets too noisy for me to concentrate, I just start saying the chaplet out loud. This usually startles the chatterers and quiets down the people who didn’t realize anyone was actually praying before Mass It’s much more effective than saying “shhhh” and it lets you lead by example.

 

[mick321]

My grandmother-in-law recently was regaling me with some very interesting stories about her experiences with the TLM while she was in a Catholic boarding school in the 1930s in Europe. Let’s just say that the average teenage girl was no less irreverent in that Mass than they’d be today in an OF Mass.

When people must actively choose to attend an EF Mass, the population there is likely to be different than the larger population in attendance at the far more common OF Masses.

Has your grandmother-in-law ever been to mass in North America?

 

[Romanova]

Has your grandmother-in-law ever been to mass in North America?

Indeed she has, she lives in the USA now and has since WWII. She has all sorts of stories about hijinks during Mass while in school – passing notes, playing card games, making fun of the nuns, etc… And this was back when TLM was the only Mass around.

My point wasn’t about Europe vs. the USA. Rather, my point is that it’s about the people, not the form of the Mass. People can be irreverent at any form of Mass. But frequently the population at certain Masses (like the EF Mass today) is self-selecting, and tends toward the more devout and more reverent. When you have the masses at Mass – as was the case at TLM pre-VII and is the case at most OF Masses today – you’re going to get a wider range of people who have a wider range of devotion and reverence.

 

[Student09]

I can’t find a place in the church where I can sit and not be disturbed by the chattering around me. If the people aren’t talking about the world outside (which I think can wait until after Mass), they are talking with the priest… so I get this pseudo re-verb when he does the Eucharistic Prayers.

When it’s time for the Lamb of God, the conversations are more intense because of the rush to say what they want before Communion starts. Thank Goodness more are limiting their conversations once we are kneeling.

Then, people receive communion only to return to their seats and have another chatter conversation.

In my opinion, there is a tremendous difference between what you are describing - a sizable portion of the parish talking during the Mass, as a regular and accepted thing - and a couple of people talking or whispering the Eucharistic prayers.

In the latter case - a couple of people - then it makes sense to tell someone to find a way to deal with the distraction, to offer it up, etc. But if it’s the entire parish - it’s really a different issue.

I’m not exactly sure what to tell you. I’ve never been to a parish that was like this. OF, EF - all the Masses I have attended, people have been silent during the Mass (not necessarily after, but during, yes). Sure, there have been a couple of times when a small group of people or a couple of women wouldn’t stop chatting during the Mass; and yes, sometimes an elderly person or two mutter the Eucharistic prayer along with the priest; but never on the scale that you are describing. I know if it was me, I probably would find a different parish - because I know that I am a weak human being and I just would not be able to deal with it. Other people who are stronger than I am, spiritually and emotionally, might be better advised to stay and offer it up to God or try to work out something by talking to the pastor (or both). It’s really up to you.

I’m sorry that you have to deal with this!